Taylor Swift Gives $250K to Schools

Taylor Swift celebrated her big 20th birthday over the weekend by throwing a Christmas-themed birthday party at her parent’s house in Hendersonville, Tennessee. All of her close friends, band mates, and crew members were there for the big night in, that involved baking cookies.

Taylor said of the bash, "It's more like an end-of-year Christmas party that happens to be on my birthday.”

But rather than receive, Taylor decided to give back for her birthday. She reportedly donated $250,000 to schools around the country that she's either attended or worked with. The money will pay teachers' salaries as well as buy books and fund educational programs.

"Something I wanted to do at the end of this amazing year and especially on my birthday was give back to something I really believe in, which is education," says Swift. "The schools that I went to and the amazing people I got to learn from really turned me into who I am, and I wanted to give back."